


Stay

by StoriwrYNos



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Aliens, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Blood and Injury, Comfort, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fear, Feelings, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Heartbreak, Hurt, Hurt Michael, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Injury, Inspired by Starcrossed, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Malex, Michael whump, Pain, Physical Abuse, Protective Isobel, Protective Max, Reveal, Romance, Stabbing, Whump, Worry, alternating pov, mentions of abuse, protective Alex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 06:56:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17955728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoriwrYNos/pseuds/StoriwrYNos
Summary: When Michael gets hurt Max, Isobel and Alex need to help him before it's too late. But if they want to save him, they actually have to find him first.





	Stay

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so as soon as they started talking about the tool shed in 1x06 it made me think about Star-Crossed (another CW programme) where they main couple have a thing with a shed and then when the guy gets hurt he goes to the shed and his girlfriend finds him there and I was like, must do that but with Malex!! 
> 
> Anyway, this turned out a lot longer than I intended it to be but I just love Michael Guerin so much (I mean I love them both but Michael is actually one of my favourite characters ever) and I needed the hurt but also the comfort so it went some places.

Michael gasped in pain as he huddled into the corner of the tool shed, holding onto his abdomen as if he could shove all of the blood pooling on his shirt back into his body. He hadn’t been ready when they had come: his clients. 

***

The previous week two of them had approached him wanting part of an engine but he had said no with images of Alex filling his head. The men had seemed disgruntled but disappeared and Michael thought he had seen the last of them. Not so. Instead they had ambushed him in an alley in town tonight. The beating had been ok. Let it never be said that Michael Guerin couldn’t take a beating. But then, then the shock had come as something was shoved into his stomach, piercing skin and slicing through muscle. Michael had been too shocked to do anything but gasp as his attackers smiled at him before they took off, taking the knife that had stabbed him with them. 

It wasn’t long before Michael had lost enough blood to make his mind foggy, thoughts fighting each other for dominance in a fast fading conscious mind. For a while images of hospitals circulated but those were cast aside. Hospitals had always been off limits. For all of them. All of them. Max and Isobel had been his next thought. He should go to them, Max could heal him. But Max was on duty tonight and Michael had no idea where he was and couldn’t call him because his phone was lying cracked on the sidewalk next to him. Same with Is. She had been going AWOL more and more often either because of the blackouts or because of Noah and Michael knew he didn’t have the energy or time to go looking for her around town especially considering that the moment someone spotted him they would call an ambulance and he would be back at problem number one.  
The next thought was Alex and then that was all he could think of. Alex. Alex. Alex. He wouldn’t make it to Alex’s cabin, he knew that. But there was somewhere else he could go. Somewhere he had been before when he needed shelter. Somewhere where he had experienced the best and worst moments of his life. Somewhere that was close to Alex. 

***

As Michael shook in pain and cold, thoughts of Alex were still all that filled his mind. Seventeen-year-old Alex with his Green Day eyeliner and black painted nails. Soldier Alex in his uniform, pretending that there was nothing between them. And his Alex, Alex in t-shirt and jeans who let Michael gently remove his prosthetic while they were lying in bed together and who kissed Michael’s broken hand while Michael caressed his scarred leg. 

Vaguely, Michael became aware that he wasn’t in pain anymore. In fact, he couldn’t feel much of anything. Somewhere else inside his genius brain he knew that this was not good. Somewhere else again, he realised that he was probably dying. And somewhere else thought that if he was, at least he would go thinking of Alex. 

***

Max had just finished writing someone a parking ticket on the outskirts of town when he fell against his car, pain filling his abdomen and his head. Images flashed in his mind. Michael being beaten in an alley. Flashes back to Michael being beaten by various foster fathers, different faces but the same fists. Back to Michael being beaten in an alley. Then suddenly a flash of silver and pain, so much pain in his lower stomach. Then flashing back to the present and the humming of his car engine beneath his chest.  
No! Max punched the side of the car, squeezing his eyes shut and willing himself back into Michael’s mind. The alley had been too dark for him to make out where it was. But Michael was hurt. Michael was…dying and Max had no idea what to do. 

***

Issy was just leaving the Wild Pony when she stumbled as images and pain filled her mind too. When she resurfaced, there was a gentle hand on her arm and she looked up to find Alex Manes looking down at her, soft concern written on his features. 

Normally Issy would pull away from the contact quickly but her thoughts were swimming and she wasn’t sure she could stand on her own. 

“You ok?” Alex asked gently, still looking at her with that expression like he genuinely cared what the answer was and was not just asking to be polite. 

She should tell him she was ok. That everything was fine. Michael was obviously hurt but they couldn’t bring other people into this. Alex was a decent guy and would just insist they ring the cops or the ambulance and then they would be in a world of trouble. But when Issy opened her mouth to say everything was fine, to make up some lie about being tipsy, one word came out of her mouth. 

“Michael.” She breathed. Immediately, Alex tensed and the look of concern turned into one full of worry. 

“What about Guerin?” He asked quickly. His tone was suddenly much less gentle but Issy could tell that it was fear changing his voice. What she didn’t know was why. But that was a question she didn’t have time to think about right now. 

“He’s hurt.” She whispered, extracting herself from Alex’s grip to walk outside of the bar. Alex followed at her heel. 

Issy’s mind was reeling. What alley had Michael been in? There were alleys all over town. There wasn’t even any certainty that Michael would still be in the alley, he knew as well as all of them that a trip to the hospital would be more fatal than life-saving so he had probably hidden somewhere. But what if he had hidden somewhere where Issy couldn’t find him? What she really needed was to get into Michael’s mind but with Alex right next to her she couldn’t do that without giving them away. 

“Stay here.” She instructed Alex. “I need to ring Max.” Quickly, she headed around the corner of the Wild Pony where no one could see her. Once there, she leaned against the wall for support and closed her eyes tightly willing Michael to let her in. 

For a moment, all she saw was the dark of her own eyelids. Then, suddenly, she was in. As soon as she connected with Michael, she staggered; his weakness seeping into her and draining her body of strength. 

Show me where you are Michael. She willed him. Instead, she got the surprise of her life. Knowing she was in Michael’s memories, she watched as Michael played guitar in a building that looked like a shed, with a seventeen-year-old Alex Manes looking over his shoulder fondly, then she was in the museum as Michael and Alex wrapped their arms around each other, kissing beneath the fake stars and papier-mâché UFOs. Then another flash and Michael had his forehead pressed up against Alex’s at the school reunion. 

With a gasp, Issy resurfaced from Michael’s mind; her head spinning. Her first thought was the question of how she had not noticed what had been going on with Michael and Alex for so many years. Then she thought about how Michael had been dealing with the loss of Alex for years on his own. As no stranger to the fear of abandonment, it killed her that she had not supported Michael. Then, she cursed Michael for thinking about Alex instead of showing her anything to do with where he was. Then, her stomach dropped as she considered the fact that Michael thinking about his memories with Alex possibly, probably, meant he was dying. 

She felt tears gather in her eyes as she felt more and more helpless. 

“Isobel?” Alex came around the corner just as Isobel’s phone rang. For a moment her heart lifted as she considered the possibility that it might be Michael but her hope quickly faded as she saw Max’s face lighting up the screen. Even so, Max was better than nothing. 

“Is.” Max started speaking as soon as she pressed the green button. “I found one of the guys who hurt Michael. He showed me the alley but Michael’s not there anymore. Just his smashed phone and blood, lots of blood.” 

Issy wasn’t sure if Alex could hear until he baulked at the mention of blood. His eyes widened in horror and the rate of his breathing increased. 

“All I could think is that he would go somewhere he feels safe. So, I’m going to go to the cave. I was thinking you could check the caravan?” 

Issy nodded into the phone as Max spoke, glad one of them was able to speak to rationally. 

“Yeah, of course, let me know if you find him.” She almost whispered. Max grunted in the affirmative on the other end of the phone before he hung up and he was gone.  
As she took the phone away from her ear, Issy looked over at Alex to find him standing with narrowed eyes as if deep in thought. 

***

Somewhere he feels safe. Those had been Max’s words and Alex couldn’t get them out of his head. Somewhere Michael felt safe. The first thought he had was the cabin but Michael hadn’t been to the cabin since Alex had moved in. In fact, Alex wasn’t even sure Michael knew he was living in the cabin. 

His second thought was the tool shed. That had been his safe place and then it had been Michael’s before his dad had wrecked it all. But it had still been the place that housed one of Alex’s best memories and as he continued thinking about it he remembered Michael looking over at him between his curls that day. 

“You make me feel safe.” He had whispered and Alex had felt his heart soaring and breaking at the same time because Michael had been hurt so much in his life that ‘you make me feel safe’ was better than ‘I love you’. Alex had known this because he had been hurt too and it was Michael who had made him feel safe. 

“Look, I have an idea of somewhere where Guerin could be. Give me your number and I’ll ring you if I find him.” 

For some reason, Isobel accepted this without question and took Alex’s phone from his hand to input her number. For a second Alex wondered if Michael had told her about them despite the multiple conversations they had had about not telling anyone. Then he realised his didn’t care at all. If he found Michael and he was ok, they could tell this whole damn town. They could kiss in the middle of the drive-in. He didn’t care. He just needed Guerin safe. 

“I’ve texted myself from your phone too so that I have your number. I’ll call if Max or I find anything.” Isobel smiled at him weakly as she handed his phone back and Alex nodded feeling immensely grateful that she clearly did know because it spared him explaining everything when they clearly had no time. With that, they went their separate ways to try and find a man they both loved. 

***

For a short while, Michael was at peace, revelling in memories of him and Alex. At some point, he couldn’t really remember when, he had pulled the blanket off the bed and tucked it around him, knowing if not feeling, that he was freezing cold. He had been happy to discover that along with the mustiness, there was still a vague scent of Alex’s high school cologne. Granted, it wasn’t the best aftershave in the world, but it smelled of Alex and for that reason, to Michael, it was the best scent on earth. 

Then, though, unwanted thoughts began encroaching on his golden memories. Foster parents beating him repeatedly, marks being scorched into his arms as people tried to exorcise the demons they were sure lived inside him, then the worst monster of all, Jesse Manes grabbing his hand and hitting it with a hammer, shattering the bones inside. Tears dripped down Michael’s cheeks as his gaze drifted towards the table where the same hammer was still lying. He wondered if Jesse had cleaned it or if his blood was still on it. 

No! He tried to banish the thoughts. Jesse had stolen the last ten years from Michael, he would not steal his last moments too. But no matter how hard he tried, Michael could not refocus his thoughts back on Alex. Or, not what he wanted to remember. Now, all he could think about was being abandoned. Being abandoned by his real family, whoever or wherever they were. Being abandoned by Issy and Max when they had woken up on earth. Being abandoned by Alex. Over and over again. Every time Alex had walked away. Every time Michael had woken up to an empty bed and fought the voices of his foster parents that wanted him to believe that Alex had no feelings deeper than lust for him. Alex leaving him at the drive-in a few days ago. It was fitting, really, that Michael was going to die here on his own. 

Suddenly, the door of the tool shed burst open and Michael didn’t even have the strength to jump in surprise. All he could do was think that no, this was more fitting, Jesse Manes finding him cowering and pathetic in his tool shed and probably watching him bleed out slowly and dying. After all of those years of dreaming about leaving this earth on a spaceship and roaring past the stars, this was actually how Michael was going to exit this world. Not with a bang but a whimper indeed. 

“Guerin!” The whispered hiss was so unexpected that Michael automatically assumed he was still hallucinating or reminiscing or whatever he had been doing. For a moment he was pretty happy with himself for conjuring Alex back up for the end of it all. 

But then, Alex appeared in front of him, crouching down on the floor and touching him. Touching him, with hands that Michael could feel. Fingers tracing his jaw and wiping away the remains of tears that rested on his cheeks. 

“Guerin. Don’t you dare die on me.” Alex was running his hands through Michael’s curly hair while Michael slowly came to the realisation that this was real. Alex was really here with him. All he wanted was to touch Alex back, to take Alex’s face in his hands and guide him down for a kiss but he couldn’t do anything but stare up at Alex’s beautiful eyes and hope they were the last thing he saw before he faded away. 

“I make no promises, Private.” He managed to croak out, flirty to the last. Alex managed a tearful smile which made Michael smile as his eyes slid shut. 

***

Alex’s heart broke inside his rib cage. Even when he was dying Michael was trying to make him smile. 

“Guerin, open your eyes, right now.” He demanded, still whispering. When he had arrived at the shed he had noticed that there were no lights on in the house which he prayed meant his dad was not home. So far so good but he didn’t want to take any chances and he definitely didn’t want his dad arriving home and finding them like this in the shed. He would stand back and make Alex watch Michael die, Alex had no doubt about that. So he needed to move Michael, now. 

“We need to go.” He hissed, urgently, placing his hands gently on either side of Michael’s jaw. Slowly, Michael pried his eyes open and met Alex’s gaze. 

“How?” He asked and Alex shook his head in response, looking from the door back to the achingly beautiful man lying in front of him. The question had been plaguing him since he had arrived. Before his leg he would have picked Guerin up and carried him to his truck and away from here but with his prosthetic and crutch that wasn’t an option. 

“Together.” He whispered finally, getting to his feet. The truth of the matter was there was not a world where he did not get Michael out of here so it would happen by whatever means necessary. 

“I need you to be strong Guerin, just for a little longer, ok? Just to get to my truck. It’s not far I promise.” 

Michael mumbled what Alex took to be a yes. Whether it actually was or not he didn’t care. 

With effort, pain and a lot of grunting, they managed to get Michael up so that he was standing leaning on Alex with an arm over Alex’s shoulder and Alex’s arm around his waist, while Alex leaned on his crutch on the other side. 

Slowly, they manoeuvred their way out of the tool shed like this. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Alex knew that they were leaving the tool shed open and that there would be blood all over the floor and the blanket but he had no time to go back and tidy up. Those were problems for when Michael was safe and well. 

As they walked, Michael’s head dropped down onto Alex’s collar bone and he whimpered in pain, even as he kept on putting one foot in front of the other. For the second time that night, Alex’s heart shattered. This was literally the story of Michael’s life, dying on his feet but still going. At least this time, Alex was there by his side. 

“Hey, we’re here baby, we made it.” Propping Michael up against the side of the truck, Alex opened the door and half lifted, half shoved Michael into the passenger side. Once Michael was in he shut the door. Then, he ran back and pulled the tool shed door closed as he realised that if Jesse found the blood he could test it and find that it was Michael’s. 

He prayed that closing the door would be enough. 

When he clambered into the car, Michael’s eyes were closed again. 

“Guerin.” He whispered, using the hand that was not starting the car and turning the wheel, to caress the curls at the nape of Michael’s neck. “Stay with me, just a little longer, ok? Please.” Alex couldn’t even imagine a world where Michael did not open his eyes again, it was too painful. 

Slowly, Michael opened one of his eyes. 

“Careful, you’re starting to sound like me.” He whispered, between laboured breaths. Alex knew that Michael was only being sarcastic, one his many defence mechanisms when things started to go wrong, but the truth of his words stung. 

“Well guess what Guerin, if you stay awake until I tell you that you can fall asleep then I promise I’ll be there when you wake up. This time, and the time after that and after that for as long as you want me.” 

“Kinky.” Michael teased again but when Alex looked at him intently, he became serious. “Deal.” He whispered. 

***

Michael was so tired. All he wanted was to fall asleep but he had promised Alex so he forced himself to stay awake by tracing the line of Alex’s profile with his eyes. 

After he had made sure Michael was staying awake, Alex pulled out his phone and started calling someone. Michael started as Issy’s voice filled the car. 

“Did you find him?” She asked before Alex could say anything. 

“I found him.” Alex confirmed, looking over at Michael as if to confirm to himself that he was still there. If he had had the energy, Michael would have waved or at least waggled his eyebrows but he was too tired to do either so he just returned Alex’s look. 

“Look, Isobel, he’s in a bad way so I’m going to take him to the - “ 

“No hospitals.” It was Michael, not Isobel who cut in. It had been too fast though, and he felt nausea grow in his stomach. Sensing his discomfort, Alex interlaced his fingers with Michael’s. 

“You need a hospital.” 

“No hospitals.” Isobel had spoken this time. “Look, I can’t explain right now but Max and I can help him better than any hospital can.” 

Michael didn’t know what Alex was thinking and his senses were starting to fail him but somewhere in the fog he registered that Alex was agreeing with Isobel. They said a few more words to each other that sounded like gibberish to Michael and then hung up. 

“Nearly there.” Alex assured him and Michael was thankful. Even with his promise to Alex hanging on his lips, he wasn’t sure how long he could keep this up. 

***

Max and Isobel were already at the cabin when Alex pulled up. The last few miles he had started to panic because Michael was clearly fading fast, although he kept breathily reassuring Alex he was still awake, clearly making sure Alex knew he was keeping to his side of the bargain. 

Almost before the car had stopped, Max had opened the passenger side door and was carrying Michael into the cabin with Isobel on their heels. With his crutch, and the exertion of getting Michael into the car earlier, it took Alex a little longer to get into the cabin. When he did, he stopped in his tracks. 

Max was crouching down next to the sofa where Michael was lying with his blood drenched shirt now ripped open. One of Max’s hands on resting over the wound and it was glowing. This went on for a few seconds, then suddenly all of the lights in the house went off. 

In the darkness, Alex heard a loud gasp that was definitely Michael. When the backup generator powered on a few moment later, Alex saw Michael sitting up on the sofa, drinking from a bottle of nail varnish remover. Scanning his eyes over Michael’s torso, Alex saw that although he was still bloody, the wound had completely disappeared and instead there was a glowing handprint. 

“You ok?” Max asked Michael, and Michael nodded although he was clearly exhausted. When he had drained the first bottle of nail varnish remover, Isobel handed him another which he gulped down quickly. 

As the three of them sat there, seemingly having forgotten all about Alex for the time being, Alex thought back and let a few loose ends click into place. That piece of other worldly technology downstairs in the cabin; Michael, Max and Isobel appearing seemingly out of nowhere in the desert; random objects flying around when he and Michael were having intense arguments; the power in town blowing when Liz and Max were shot. 

“Alex?” Hearing his name, Alex quickly zoned back into what was happening in front of him. “Is it ok if I put Michael somewhere here or do you want me to take him back to mine?” 

It was Max talking to him and Alex could see from his expression that he was trying to act as nonchalant as possible to gage what Alex might already know and what his reaction might be. For his part, Michael had his head resting against the sofa cushions, chin almost touching his chest. He was clearly just about ready to pass out but he was looking at Alex all the same. 

“Through there, first door on the left.” It was not even a question to Alex, of course Michael was staying with him. He wasn’t sure he could ever persuade himself to let Michael leave his sight ever again. 

Max nodded gratefully and picked Michael up. For a second Michael tried to protest but he was too tired to do anything more than moan weakly a couple of times and then let himself be carried. 

As Max and Michael walked away, Isobel and Alex exchanged a look which held everything they had learned about each other in the past few hours. 

***

Although he was almost literally dying to fall asleep, Michael couldn’t until he had seen Alex. Not because of their deal anymore, but because he wanted to see if the way Alex looked at him had changed because of what he had just found out. He didn’t know how he would react if it had but he needed to see, needed to know. 

Finally, after what felt like hours of waiting, Alex walked into his bedroom and shut the door quietly behind him. He turned and then started, clearly surprised at finding Michael still awake. 

“I thought for sure you’d be asleep by now.” He whispered quietly, as he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed to remove his prosthetic. 

“I promised didn’t I?” Michael joked, feeling the desperation behind his own defence mechanism. 

Alex chuckled lightly as he manoeuvred himself into a lying position and then wriggled under the covers. 

“I would have stayed either way.” The reassurance made Michael’s heart soar. 

For a while they lay in silence, next to each other but not touching, until Michael could take it no longer. 

“Aren’t you going to ask?” He demanded desperately. 

Alex turned to look at him, a small smile on his face. 

“Not tonight. I've already spoken with Max and Isobel and told them you're secret's safe with me.” He whispered, breath hitting Michael’s face. 

“Don’t you care?” Michael asked again, unable to let it go. Unable to sleep with Alex like this if tomorrow Alex was going to leave him again because of what he was. 

“I care that you got hurt today. I care that you almost died. I care that I might never have seen you again. That’s what I care about Guerin.” 

Michael didn’t get it. Couldn’t understand the sincerity in Alex’s voice. All of his life he had been prosecuted and hurt and abandoned and knew that if anyone found out his secret he would be tortured and experimented on and killed but Alex was doing none of that. 

“But I’m an alien.” He whispered and it was almost a relief to get it out in the open, to finally say it to the man he loved. 

Alex got up onto his elbow so that he could look down at Michael as he spoke. 

“Ok, but you’re still Michael Guerin, the guy I have been in love with for ten years. The one who loves music and the stars and got his hand busted protecting me from my abusive dad, who went through years of pain and torture but still let me in, who could have gone to any college he wanted but stuck around in some dead-beat town he hates because his family needed him. What I just found out doesn’t change that.” 

Michael didn’t know what to say to that. Tears stung the backs of his eyes. In the end he did the only thing he could think to and reached up for Alex’s hair to bring him down for gentle kiss. 

After their lips parted, Alex kept his forehead resting against Michael’s. Michael kept his eyes shut, knowing that this time he had no chance of opening them again. 

“You can go to sleep now Guerin.” Alex breathed more than spoke the words as he shifted onto his side to take Michael in his arms. Michael knew the promise was implicit in Alex’s sentiment but he couldn’t help but ask, needed to hear Alex say it. 

“You’ll stay?” 

“You’re in my bed Guerin.” Alex teased gently, but then he pressed his lips lightly against Michael’s temple. “I promise.” 

The next morning when Michael started awake, feeling a phantom knife sneaking its way into his abdomen, Alex pulled him closer and kissed him gently until he fell back to sleep.


End file.
